


Bad timing

by Leara, Mixedia



Category: Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birth, Black Widow - Freeform, Deantasha - Freeform, F/M, Pregnancy, Shifter Natasha, shape shifter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 13:50:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1173819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leara/pseuds/Leara, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mixedia/pseuds/Mixedia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean find two separate hunts that need their attention, so decide to split up to handle it. Dean ends up running into someone he definitely didn't expect to still be hunting, but Natasha has never been one to back down from a challenge. One little mistake and suddenly the hits keep coming, leaving Dean panicking and calling his brother desperately for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad timing

"Yeah pretty sure it's another shifter, Sammy." Dean said into his phone as he walked over to his car. "One look at the papers and I knew."  
"So have you found it's hideout yet?" Sam asked.  
"Yeah I found a pukerific den down in the sewers. I swear this one is like an exact replica of that one in St. Louis we fought all those years ago." He replied, opening the door to the Impala and sliding into the driver's seat. "How's your research going?"  
"Pretty slow." His brother's words faded off into a long yawn before he continued. "I reckon I'm gonna be here at least another week, there's a lot of info in this library."  
"Nice to find a place with a lot of answers for a change huh?" Dean mused, pulling his keys back out of his jacket pocket and putting them into the car. "Alright, let me know if you find anything life changing." With that he hung up the phone and drove back to the motel.

As he was walking through the foyer at the motel, the manager waved at him with half a sandwich in his hand.  
"Hey, one of your folks just booked in." The man called to Dean as he walked past. "Didn't realise the Feds made you guys work right through when normal people get maternity break and boy, she's huge!"  
"What?" Dean walked over and stared the man in the face. "She have red hair? Agent Chernaya?"  
"Yeah, think that was her." The manager replied, taking another bite of sandwich and looking back at the computer screen he had on the desk. Dean groaned as he backed off a step.  
"Natasha Romanoff... Seriously?" He muttered to himself as he made his way to the rooms.

He knew exactly which room she would be in, Nat stuck to hunter's choice a little too well - a corner room, more than one window, multiple escape routes and low enough to jump out a window without busting your spine open, although with the size of her big pregnant belly nowadays, that window tended to be on the ground floor. He found it within seconds, laughing to himself that she actually had the room he had wanted to pick and that the room he had got stuck with was the one right next to hers.

He knocked on the door and it took her half a minute to answer, the door only half opening at first and he did not doubt that she had a gun pressed against the door and directed straight at him.  
"Opened the door without checking the peep hole first, Nat?" He said by way of greeting. "What is baby feeding off your brain cells or something?"  
"Winchester." She sighed, opening the door fully and letting her gun arm swing to the side, slipping the safety on but not letting go of the weapon itself. "Wouldn't surprise me. It is your kid after all. And no, actually." Motioning for him to come in, she moved over to sit on the sofa, looking perfectly mobile and comfortable even with the swollen stomach. "I'm too big to be able to see through the peephole these days."  
"Yeah well, enjoy it while it lasts because you only got a week left, remember." Dean shot back, pulling out a chair from the dining table in the small studio motel room.  
"Oh really? And how would you know that?" Natasha pulled a sceptical smile at him. Dean immediately became flustered, his cheeks flushing red and his head tilted down. "Why Winchester," Nat laughed. "Anyone would think you were going soft on me!" Something passed over her face for a second, something that looked calculating and painful, her eyes wandering like she was counting something. Dean raised an eyebrow at her.  
"Braxton hicks?" He asked, watching her face.  
"When did you become the expert in 'what to expect when you're expecting'?" She gibed at him, shaking her head and looking like she was going to continue jeering him.

"Anyway!" He cried, trying to change the subject. "Shapeshifter."  
"Naturally." She replied, all hints of amusement gone in the face of more serious matters.  
"Sewerage." He added.  
"Doesn't take a genius to work that one out." She mocked, watching him carefully.  
"Yeah, thanks for that." He rolled his eyes and stood up. "You gonna hack into the town's CCTV, see if we can get an idea of who's skin this thing is wearing?"  
"Wait, you expect me to hang around here?" Nat spat, her whole face voicing the offence she felt. "I'm pregnant, Dean, not an invalid."  
"Oh ok..." He ran a hand down his mouth and pretended to be thinking hard. "How about this. If you can fit yourself in through the manhole cover outside and actually get down to the sewers, I'll let you come fight with me."

She sat with a sulking pout that let Dean know he had won.  
"Look, Natasha, I'm not saying you're invalid." Dean tried explaining. "I just think it would be better to handle the research side of things until you're no longer..." He waved his hands in the air, trying to come up with a good way of describing her condition without offending her. But after a few seconds, she cut across him.  
"Until I'm not invalid." She mumbled, her sulking pout turning to one of annoyance. "Just go, Winchester, before I use my huge mass to barrel you outta here."

* * * * *

Dean knew his best bet to find the creature would be down in the sewers again, so that's where he was, even if the smell was almost too awful for him to stand. But his torch light was bright and the stinking maze was easier to navigate than the sewers in Saint Louis had been so he supposed it wasn't that bad. He was so intent on what was ahead of him, however, he didn't notice the slimy pile of ex. Shape shifter skin until he was standing on the edge of it and the slime was acting as a perfect lubrication on the soles of his boots.

"Ohhh great." He groaned, lifting his shoe up and feeling disgusted as the slime followed the movement of his foot. "Well, least I'm getting close." He mumbled, trying to encourage himself as he walked forward a little further and saw a light that had nothing to do with his torch shining from the passage way ahead. He stalked round, his gun level with his torch and fully loaded with silver bullets. However, all he found round the corner was a bed, a few chests of who-knows what, but definitely no monster. Sighing he pulled out his phone and dialled Nat's number.

"Well I found monster HQ, but no shifter." He told her once she answered. "No leads on where it might be. How about you?"  
"Watched it stalk towards the edge of the forest." Nat replied, sounding oddly out of breath. "I'm following it right now. I should be able to bring it down by myself, get back to your brother Winchester." Dean scoffed at her suggestion.  
"I'm on my way to you now. You alright Nat?"  
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" She demanded. He shrugged before remembering she couldn't see him through his phone.  
"Nothing, just a hunch." He told her, making his way back to the hole he had climbed down.  
"Well how about you stop hunching about me and get back to the old-mobile?" She teased, he could practically hear her victorious smile over the phone connection.  
"Hey, my baby is a thing of beauty." He shot back, looking up the ladder he was about to climb.  
"Of course she is," Nat said, sounding breathless again. "She's been inside me for 9 months."

Dean rolled his eyes as he hung up the phone. Climbing back out of the sewers, he was almost at the car when something in his brain locked and wouldn't let go. It was like instinct was taking over and telling him he was in entirely the wrong place. He stood for a second, wondering what was going on when a mantra sprang from nowhere, sounding loud and unforgiving in his head:

NatNatNatNat NatNatNatNat NatNatNatNat NatNatNatNat NatNatNatNat NatNatNatNat

Turning round, he thought about the nearest entrance to the forest from the motel room and found himself dashing the last few steps to the car, throwing himself into the driver's side and burning rubber as he sped off from the parking lot he had been in. He had to get to her, he didn't know why, he just knew he needed to be there and now.

He stopped at the entrance with a squeal of his brakes, pulling the gun out of the holster at his waist and double checking the bullets were silver before sprinting off into the trees. At first he had no idea which way he was supposed to go, but miraculously it wasn't long before he heard her voice... or more to the point... theirs coming from a clearing nearby.

"Come on," Natasha shouted, "You don't even have any ammunition on you. Do you really think you're going to kill me with just a knife?"  
"Shouldn't underestimate me, bitch." Nat replied from the other side of the clearing.  
"What the...?" Dean muttered to himself as he slowed down and slunk the rest of the way towards the clearing. He took a moment to rub his eyes in case he was seeing things.  
"Never even seen me in a fight, don't know how good I am, do you?" One heavily pregnant Natasha Romanoff hissed, brandishing a knife, twirling it in her hand.  
"But like I said, gun trumps knife sweetheart." The other heavily pregnant Natasha Romanoff mocked back, wiggling the gun in front of her counterpart for emphasis.

This was going to be tricky, Dean thought to himself. He needed to find something to differentiate the two Natasha's so he could figure out which one was which. He slunk a little further forward, keeping himself low to the ground so he could watch the two. One of the Natasha's kept her eyes fixed on the other at all times, watching her every move and calculating everything around her. The other Nat's eyes kept flashing quickly to a pile of shape shifter goo on the floor nearby that seemed to be full of Dean's own clothes. He frowned.

"Did you really think changing into Winchester was going to freak me out enough to let you win?" One Natasha goaded the other, a smile breaking out on her face.  
"Oh don't pretend I'm the shifter you weird little girl." the other laughed back. "But of course, I admire the tactic. Dean's face when going against himself would have been priceless."  
"It would have been pure loathing." The other one replied, nodding her head.  
"Just what I was thinking. Well at least we have something in agreement."

Dean wasn't sure what he thought of two identical, heavily pregnant Natasha's talking this way about him while he hid in the bushes and listened. He wasn't sure if it sounded like the beginning of a terrible joke or his very worst nightmare. The conversation was just too confusing for him to listen to, so instead he tried to focus on the physical aspects of the two Nat's. But with perfectly wretched timing, that was when they ran forward and began attacking one another. He cursed the fact that he couldn't spend more time studying their physical features more but just before the two women collided with grunts and nails and even teeth, he saw all he needed to see to know which Natasha was Natasha Romanoff and which Natasha was Natasha the Shifter. Unfortunately the two were so close while fighting and moving so fast he knew there was no way he could get a clean shot.

Almost as quickly as it had began, the fighting stopped and both Nat's sprang apart to be opposite ends of the clearing again. The one on the left was the worse off - a great slash down her cheek dribbling blood onto her top, which was ripped and ragged, her nose clearly broken and at least 1 finger missing. The other looked fine, apart from her hand resting over the swell of her stomach and a few bruises blossoming on her collar bones. Both were breathing hard and fast, the exertion of their fight showing painfully obvious. But Dean knew he had to act.

Stepping out from the bushes, he took aim and fired in one fluid movement, sending the bullet racing into the heart of the Natasha on his left, her face freezing in an expression of shock more than anything. Falling to her knees, she took one final breath and let the rest of her weight fall sideways, blood leaking from her mouth, nose and the injuries she had gained during the fight. The clearing was silent for a few moments.

"How did you know?" The Natasha still standing asked him, sounding like she was still struggling to breathe.  
"You're sweating. She wasn't." He answered simply enough, turning to look at her, a mask of worry completely overtaking his whole being.  
"So?" Nat shook her head, obviously not getting it.  
"Nat... Women sweat when they're in labour." Dean explained, walking over to her and putting his hands on her shoulders, feeling her slumping into him a little. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"  
"I have all day to get this kid out of me." She said back, feeling her muscles giving out. "We didn't have all day to save more innocent people from that thing."

Her knees chose that moment to buckle and Dean sank with her. Her hands sprang away from herself and gripped his arms tightly, her teeth gritted and her whole body shaking as they hit the ground. Dean was smiling, feeling a rush of adrenaline at the excitement of what he knew was about to happen. But then he looked down, wondering if he'd be able to tell from looking at her bump whether she was contracting or not. Instead his heart gave a painful contraction of its own as it stuttered at the sight.  
"Winchester..." Nat moaned, pain dripping off every word she spoke. "Dean I... I don't think I can move."  
"Hospital... you need a hospital." Dean choked out as he watched the red spread over her swollen stomach and drip from the bottom, an entirely different coloured liquid coating her trousers further down. "Did she stab you?" He demanded, panic rising in his chest at the sight of all that... that red. Nat shook her head.  
"'s just a scratch." She tried to reassure him, one hand letting go of his arm to pull her shirt up and reveal the ugly gaping cut going right across the top of her stomach. It was far too deep to merely be a 'scratch'.

"Al... Alright..." He stammered, his mind going into overdrive, telling him to wrap up the wound, stitch it up, get her water, cool her down, lay her on her back, make her sing to him or recite something, anything to keep her talking and conscious. "Hospital." He shouted over his own thoughts, reaching down to pull his own t-shirt off, not even noticing the bite of air against his own bare skin. Balling it up in his hands, he pressed it against her stomach, trying to ignore the hiss of pain she gave as he pressed it against the raw, open wound that was being stretched even worse by the contractions.  
"Can you walk?" He barked at her, trying to help her stand. But with a rush of exhaled breath and a yelp of pain, she fell back to her knees, her hand desperately grasping at his t-shirt held against the wound on her stomach. "Right..." He said aloud to himself as he bent over completely, wrapping one arm around her back and one under her knees, he scooped her up, ignoring the wet feeling that was seeping from her trousers and the combined scent of blood and amniotic fluid assaulting his senses, as he carried her bridal style to the car.  
"How are you feeling?" He worried over her as he sat her in the passenger side, stopping for a second to look her in the face. She took two hard, hasty breaths before replying.  
"I'm in pain, I'm wet all over from fluids that should be inside me right now and I'm going dizzy." She snapped at him which he took as his cue to get into the driver's side of his car once again and drive like he'd never driven before.  
"Don't let me down now baby." He encouraged the car, patting her dashboard, then holding his hand out for Nat to squeeze as another contraction shot through her body, lighting each and every nerve on fire.

* * * * *

There was suddenly a moment of calm, peace, although it wasn't quiet, not by a long shot. What felt like every Doctor and nurse in the building were running around her, shouting orders for plastic surgeons or pain relief or some other form of specialist treatment Natasha Romanoff needed for after she performed the miracle she was currently performing. Dean stood next to her at the head of the bed, saying things like "You're doing so well Nat." and "Keep pushing, that's it! Good girl." and all those other random things you heard characters on TV say while the female characters were giving birth while intermittently adding in "She's only 39 weeks" until one doctor told him a week early was nothing to worry about. At one point he shuffled over to take a peek for himself and felt a sharp sensation, like a laser beam of light strike though his very being, through all the darkness he was feeling, all the black worry and storm clouds in his mind, breaking through all the bad about the situation and strike into his heart where it burst open into the most pure and beautiful form of love created from that small patch of dark hair appearing between Nat's legs. But even as his heart swelled at the sight, his mind was all autopilot, still trying to play catch-up with what had happened.

He barely remembered the car journey, just anxiety and worry coursing through his brain as he watched Nat fade next to him, shouting at her to keep her head up, her eyes open, keep clinging onto consciousness because in the end, that's what was going to save her. He'd wrenched his phone from his pocket as they got close to the hospital, dialling the number and ordering the emergency staff to get ready because she was in a heap of trouble, telling them everything that was wrong with her all at once and yet not fast enough it felt. They were there, ready and waiting with a portable bed and medical staff of all descriptions preparing to whisk her away. They tried to stop Dean from following, but if looks could kill the one Dean shot them all would have blown up the hospital, he was not above using his most dangerous hunting face at moments like this.

They had tried to explain to him what was happening, what would happen and what sort of danger she was in, her chances of survival, but it was too much. He felt his worry double, as the stark realisation hit that it wasn't just Nat that needed saving, but the tiny life she was currently trying to push out of her as well. That tiny life was partly his fault, his seed had created it and when it had finally entered their world, it would make him a father.

I'm gonna be a dad.

Then, everything went still. None of the doctors or nurses were moving, all poised with towels or breathing apparatus or who-only-knows what else and the attention of every person in the room was directed to Natasha's groin as she gave one final scream. Time seemed to slow down so everything was in slow motion and all Dean could really hear was Nat's pain and the blood pounding in his ears. The silence of the room stretched on even as Nat sank back against her pillows, breathing deep and heavy. Only the obstetrician was moving, using random tools Dean couldn't see past Nat's legs. He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see Nat staring at him with the most heartbreaking expression he had ever seen. Reaching over, he stroked his hand down her face and kissed her forehead, not caring about the salty tang of sweat that was in a thick coat all over her face.

Suddenly, time sped back up to normal and like the most beautiful music in the world, a loud and demanding squalling noise came from between Nat's legs and then the Obstetrician was holding up a bundle of perfect wet, pink skinned, angry new born...  
"It's a girl!" The obstetrician declared, beaming at Dean and Nat happily. Dean felt completely breathless as he looked at his daughter for the first time. He felt like this wasn't reality, he was somewhere completely different, watching another person's life because surely his couldn't be this amazing?

Then he felt Nat sag and every alarm in the room went off, beeping and buzzing and whirring all around him and the room was in motion again. He was roughly pulled to the side, struggling to keep his balance after the miracle he had just witnessed and realising that that miracle was his life and that little girl they were walking away with was his little girl. He took one last look at Nat, who was glaring at him with an unmistakable look in her eyes, told her "I'll be back as soon as I can." and ran off after the Anti-natal staff.

* * * * *

It had taken him a while to explain who he was to them and they had insisted on giving him the basic lessons - how to hold her correctly, how to feed her, how to put on her first nappy and he did it all by instinct built up from when Sam had been a baby, from when he had cared for the Shifter baby all those years ago that he and Sam had named "Bobby John" and so many other instances. He felt a slight tingle of pride at the impressed looks the nurses kept giving him as he breezed through each lesson, knowing that tingle would be so much more powerful if only he knew what was happening with Nat. He was vaguely aware of asking the nurses if he could take the tiny girl in his arms to see her mother and following the nurse to the ICU. He waited patiently outside Nat's room as the nurse went in to see how things were going, but Nat was still being operated on. He was told he wasn't allowed to leave the hospital with the baby but he could keep her for the time being and he agreed, assuring the nurse he had no plans to leave until Nat could come with him and she had nodded sympathetically back. He was directed to a place a few corridors away from Nat's room where he would be allowed to make a cell phone call and before he even realised what he was doing, he had sat with his daughter resting on his lap and his phone pressed to his ear, clutching it desperately like a lifeline as it tried to connect him to his brother.

"Yeah, what's up?" Sam greeted with a yawn on the other end of the line.  
"S... Sammy?" Dean stammered, all the emotion and the adrenaline of the last 24 hours collecting in a tidal wave in his chest that threatened to take him over at any moment.  
"Dean? You alright?" Sam asked, worry in his tone.  
"No I err... I'm really not... but err... You're an Uncle!" He exclaimed, placing his free hand on his daughter's soft, chubby belly as if to plant the thought that 'This is real' into his own head.  
"WHAT?" Sam practically screamed over the phone, enough to help wake Dean a little from his confusion at what was reality and what wasn't.  
"Shit Sammy," Dean choked, horrified to find fat, hot tears rolling down his face. "I'm a dad, you're an uncle, I'm holding my daughter... and I think I'm about to lose her mother. But I can't lose her Sam, I can't. I think I'm in love with her." He reached up and wiped angrily at the tears spilling down his cheeks, his voice wavering over the phone.  
"Just... Calm down Dean." His brother tried to soothe from who-ever-knows where he was in the country.

"Sammy, I don't know what to do!" Dean wailed, scooping his daughter up and holding her close to his chest as he began to pace trying to calm his body down and let out some of the adrenaline rushing through his system. "Shit shit shit."  
"Wait... who even is the mother?" Sam inquired, sounding confused. The rush of wind was picked up and sent over the line and quickly followed by the sound of an engine starting.  
"NAT, you know, Romanoff... Natasha Romanoff."  
"Nat? Huh, I thought it was short for Nathaniel or something... wait... you mean that red head you were hunting with months ago.... Oh no Dean you didn't." Sam scolded as what must have happened sunk into his understanding.  
"You don't understand, Sam!" Dean retorted. "I... I think I'm in love with her. I love everything about her and I don't know what I'll do if I lose her." The sound of the engine on the other end of the line changed as Sam obviously started driving. Of course he knew what town and state Dean was in.  
"When did you guys even knock her up?"  
"Sam, what do you think I do when I disappear for days at a time? Oh no..." He paused as he felt the girl in his arms start to squirm, her tiny mouth opening and little squalling noises filled the hallway. Dean looked down at her and jammed the phone onto his shoulder, holding it in place with his head so he had both hands free. "No kid, don't start crying I kinda got a lot on my plate right now! Ok, ok, I'm sorry, here, let me..." He paused again as he changed her position, hoping it would calm her a little. "Look, would you just get over here?" He ordered Sam, "I'm not great at this dad thing on my best of days but while mom is off dying in the other room I kind of have a lot on my mind right now."  
"Alright, alright, where are you? Oh and Dean..." Sam paused, sighing like he had something big he was about to reveal. "If she dies, you're all that kid'll have."  
"Yeah thanks for that Sammy, now is NOT the time." He spat. I'm at Idaho General Hospital. Ask for Labour ICU ward - Natasha Romanoff. You'll find us."


End file.
